Candidate forum to be live-streamed tonight

The Friends of Portsmouth will host a candidate forum for all six candidates who have declared for the Ohio House 90th District seat. The event will be 6-7:30 p.m. today in the conference room of The Lofts.

Organizers say that due to space considerations, the forum is not open to the public. However, the event will be streamed live on the group’s Facebook page. All candidates are scheduled to attend. Declared candidates include four Republicans and two Democrats. The Republicans are Brian Baldridge, Gina Collinsworth, Justin Pizzulli and Scottie Powell. Democrats are Adrienne Buckler and Joni Fearing.

Incumbent Dr. Terry Johnson (R-McDermott) was originally elected to represent Ohio’s 89th House District. Johnson saw his district lines redrawn, and in 2012 was elected to represent the new 90th District, which includes all of Scioto and Adams counties, and part of Lawrence County. Johnson has been term limited out of contention and is, therefore, not seeking re-election.

Moderator for the candidate forum is local attorney and Friends of Portsmouth member Matthew Seifert. The forum is scheduled to consist of seven questions asked during the 90-minute time period. Each candidate will have the opportunity to answer five of those questions, as well as make opening and closing remarks.

In a prepared statement, the Friends of Portsmouth said that to ensure the community is properly represented, the Friends group is accepting question submissions via its Facebook page. No deadline for question submission was provided.